A biased look at psychology in the world

December 06, 2010

Scientia Pro Publica # 47

Welcome, one and all, the the 47th edition of Scientia Pro Publica. It is a special privilege for me to host this rotating carnival of the best science, medical, and environmental writing on the web and the lineup this time around is as strong as ever.

Then we have the lovely and talented GrrlScientist herself weighing in with her own memories of a very special Thanksgiving holiday in New York, the comforting presence of dinosaurs, and why she is grateful she is not a cranberry (I think we can all appreciate that sentiment).

We also have James Byrne at Disease of the Week (described as "a blog not exclusively about disease and not exclusively weekly). In the second part of his two-part series on the development and maturation of the human biome, James looks at the trillions of microorganisms flourishing in the intestines of the average adult and how the body tells the difference between "good" and "bad" bacteria.

Which bring us to Lab Rat (and how could you not love a name like that?) and a post on the complex and fascinating way that DNA is stored in the nuclei of living cells. In a related vein, Vincent Racaniello at Virology Blog shares some observations on the vital role of antibodies in neutralizing viral infections and limit the spread of infection. To add to the litany of microbiological contributions, we have Bob O'Hara of Everyday Biology to tell us about a Japanese research team, their sudoku-solving bacteria and the possible use of bacteria in computing. Bob then follows up with a sobering look at the late Leigh Van Halen's Red Queen's Hypothesis and the complex relationship between fitness and extinction.

Moving along to the psychology/medicine contributions, we have Dr. Shock with his contribution describing the vital (and underappreciated) role that empathy plays in medicine and the need to include it along with all the other vital skills needed to aid patients. We then have Sharp Brains with their list of the most important new books on the brain and their significant for educators and the general public. Warren Davis of Positive Psychology Digest talks about pain, reward, and why money and pain might be linked (and not just through paper cuts).

The next installment of Scientia is on December 20th and will be hosted by GrrlScientist at This Scientific Life. As always, anyway interested in submitting a post for consideration can use this automated submission link or email the Scientia carnival directly at ScientiaBlogCarnival AT gmail DOT com. You can follow Scientia on Twitter at this handy Twitter page and there is also a page listing the various other science carnivals out there. We're also still looking for hosts for the upcoming year! If you're interested in hosting, check out the 2011 schedule and let Scientia know of your availablility.